Question about VPN locations like China

Hi. I am humbly wishing to ask the Bitdefender community who maintains the VPN a question. Is there a planned date when China will be re-enabled or activated as a VPN location?

Secondly, is there a planned date to restore Russian VPN functionality?

Please understand that I come from a place of curiosity and am respectfully inquiring about this situation. It seems that China being banned because of whatever region is becoming a bit too much, for my VPN use case. What's so wrong about having China as a location?

Thank you, very much!

Find more posts tagged with

vpn

Accepted answers

All comments

Alexandru_BD

Hello,

The reality is, some countries apply restrictive VPN usage regulations. Most probably they apply and enforce such restrictions primarily to maintain control over information, protect national security, and preserve political authority.
I think we need to keep in mind that China operates an extensive internet censorship system known as the Great Firewall, which blocks access to many foreign websites. VPNs allow users to bypass these blocks and access content the government wants to restrict. So, this tight regulation ensures that people cannot easily evade censorship. Authorities there claim VPN restrictions help in monitoring and reducing activities related to terrorism, fraud, and other cybercrimes.

Other nations like Russia, Iran, North Korea, implement similar regulations. Their governments often frame VPN restrictions in terms of security and legality, but critics argue that they primarily serve to suppress freedom of expression, limit access to information, and prevent political dissent. But let me hear your opinion on this.

What remains to be done from the perspective of VPN providers?

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/8249/

Regards

Septimiu

@Alexandru_BD

I will try to add 2 points to the discussion that should highlight some of the paradoxes that I and probably others face.

Some countries selectively block Twitter accounts and news sites. Essentially, there is no difference from tunneling into a location where something is censored, and not using the VPN. It might be interesting if I could comfortably connect to my favorite location, Romania, and be able to avoid restricted news sites or Twitter pages, and also avoid strange routing policies (as seen in traces). Instead, I use VPN to read the news that's been around for decades as always, but have to carefully choose a location, as if somehow some exit points are incompatible with particular information. How strange is that?

Secondly, if I want to read particular Chinese newsletters, the dilemma I face is that my exit point is the one censoring the content, or failing to fetch it. I don't want to escape Chinese firewalls, I would kindly like to read some of their content! So, it would probably (excuse my uneducated guess) be nice if I didn't VPN into China to avoid the Chinese firewall, but to stay inside of China, as in, have an exit point there. Not asking for full Chinese VPN, just an exit point.

So those are my thoughts and feelings about this so far. My opinion is, as long as I'm using Bitdefender, I should benefit from a healthy internet, as long as the connection is secured, regardless of particularities of any jurisdiction or geography that I might not even care about or have the time to understand.

Warm regards!

Alexandru_BD

There is a particular thing about these locations and I understand why some vendors may choose not to provide services there. China has specific laws regarding VPNs, requiring that approved providers operating in the country comply with technical rules that would essentially give authorities full (including physical) access to VPN servers, which would completely nullify Bitdefender's privacy promise to their users. Therefore, it is the company's decision not to have servers in China in order not to jeopardize the safety and privacy of their customers.

Bitdefender VPN is designed with privacy and security at its core. As part of this commitment, Bitdefender VPN enforces a strict no-log policy, meaning that it does not collect or retain any information that could reveal online activities or trace them back to users. In 2025, the infrastructure used by Bitdefender VPN underwent an independent audit to verify the no-log policy.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/116380/

Russia on the other hand is a different story. Besides the fact that they also have some rules by which they actively block VPN providers, it is also a business decision not to provide services there.

Regards